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Comment from CLC on new estate agent referral fee guidance

The Director of Strategy for the Council for Licensed Conveyancers (CLC) comments on the new estate agent referral fee guidance.

Stephen Ward of the CLC said:

“This is another welcome step in improving the homebuying process for consumers. Transparency across the whole market is essential and this is a very positive step coming so soon after the housing minister, Heather Wheeler, announced it at our annual conference in January.

“We want consumers to be able to make an informed choice based on all the available information and our recent research found that most home-buyers did not know whether their conveyancer paid a fee to an estate agent in return for a recommendation. Further, with estate agent recommendation one of the primary factors in influencing a consumers’ choice of conveyancer, it’s crucial that consumers are aware that such relationships exist before they make a decision. The publication of this guidance, along with transparency requirements introduced by the CLC and other regulators from December last year requiring all property lawyers to publish certain price, service and quality information on their websites means consumers will be more empowered than ever before.

“The Minister has made it clear that if estate agents do not respond positively to this initiative she has not ruled out legislating against such fees. So the onus is now very much on estate agents to make consumers aware when fees are being paid.”